Family
Getting married in the Philippines as a foreigner
Legal capacity certificate, marriage license, ceremony, previous marriages, special cases and the steps after the wedding: what makes a marriage valid, and what makes it void.
Last verified: 2026-10
Situations covered (18)
- Certificate of legal capacity to contract marriage (LCCM)
- Marriage license at the Local Civil Registrar
- The ceremony: authorized officer, two witnesses, personal appearance
- Partner aged 18 to 25: parental consent or advice, counseling
- Prenuptial agreement: before the wedding, in writing, registered
- Divorced foreigner: bring the final divorce decree
- Filipino partner divorced abroad: court recognition first
- Widowed: death certificate of the previous spouse
- Previous marriage annulled or void: final judgment and registration
- Still married: a new marriage would be void and bigamous
- Two foreigners marrying in the Philippines
- Religious wedding: same civil requirements, plus the church's own
- Marriage without a license after 5 years of cohabitation
- Same-sex couple: no marriage possible in the Philippines
- Married abroad: valid in the Philippines if valid where celebrated
- After the wedding: registration, PSA copy, home-country records
- Foreign spouse: balikbayan privilege or 13(a) visa
- Doubt about validity: the void cases and what to do
Sources
- Family Code of the Philippines (EO 209, 1987) — Lawphil
- RA 10354 (Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012), Sec. 15 — Certificate of Compliance — Lawphil
- PD 965 (1976) — family planning instructions before the marriage license
- RA 10655 (2015) — repeal of the crime of premature marriage — Lawphil
- Quezon City Citizen's Charter — Application and Issuance of Marriage License (2024): requirements for foreigners, ₱250 total, release on the 11th day
- City of Ilagan Citizen's Charter 2026 — Application for Marriage License (fees and requirements for foreign applicants)
- PSA — fees for civil registry documents and CENOMAR (PSA Serbilis)
- Service-Public.fr — marriage of a French national abroad (CCAM, publication of banns, transcription)
- Philippine Consulate General in Melbourne — Balikbayan Program (foreign spouse entering with the balikbayan)
- Republic v. Dayot, G.R. No. 175581 (2008) — false affidavit of five-year cohabitation (case summary)